by Brad Warner

I’ve never really gone public with this. But I am a tremendous Monkees geek. It must have started early because that’s me at age six or seven with a genuine Monkees guitar — which would be worth a fortune now if I still had it. Alas I do not.

But I do have all of The Monkees’ albums, most of them in the Super Deluxe versions Rhino Records has been issuing for the past few years. The Monkees were a huge influence on me when I was making the Dimentia 13 records.

Long before it was available on home video, I went and saw a screening of The Monkees movie HEAD up in Cleveland. I was dumbstruck by the film’s theme song, “The Porpoise Song” and annoyed that the record was, in those days, utterly impossible to find. So I went home and attempted to rewrite the song for myself from memory just so I’d have it to listen to.

About a year later I finally managed to track down a record with “The Porpoise Song” on it. I discovered that my song, “I Am a Whale” was similar in style to The Monkees but was different enough that I used it as the last track on the first Dimentia 13 record. A video I made of the song is at the bottom of this page. You can click on the words “The Porpoise Song” in the paragraph above if you want to compare it to The Monkees’ tune.

So I was pretty sad to hear yesterday that Davy Jones had died. Davy wasn’t my favorite Monkee. He always seemed to sing crummy syrupy ballads like The Day We Fall in Love or Dream World. But he also sang lead on some of their best songs, like Valerie and Cuddly Toy. He also had the good taste to feature Neil Young as the lead guitarist on his tune You And I from The Monkees’ late period album Instant Replay.

It’s odd the way celebrity deaths affect you. I never met Davy Jones, though I saw The Monkees in concert a few times in the eighties. But he was important in my life nonetheless.

Just a day before Davy died there was a horrendous shooting at Chardon High School, just a few miles north of where I live. A maniac with a gun killed three of his fellow students and wounded two others. It’s a tragic story that happens far too often. It makes me sad and angry. I was one of those kids who hated everybody in my school too. But I never shot anyone. These things make no sense. Nor does the number of handguns in America. But don’t get me started on that one.

I feel like it’s probably more worthy to write a tribute to those kids in Chardon. But I didn’t know them. And in some ways I kinda sorta knew Davy Jones even if he didn’t know me. Besides that, the news outlets here in NE Ohio seem to be doing tributes to those kids 24/7. Some of which are incredibly awful.

At times like these people who are supposed to be spiritual teachers like to put some sort of spin on the news that ties it in with their beliefs. I hate it when people do that. So I’m not gonna launch into a sermon about impermanence or any such schlock.

I’m just sad that Davy Jones is dead. And those kids. And even that conservative blogger dude I never heard of until he died.

The once KTEH < ---- sorry, a WIKI link In the "affordable" East Bay, we get something like 41 digital television channels off-air (I don't actually know because I set up the old 22" flat-screen about 3 years ago and I don't think it has been turned on very often since). KQED is a work of art. I worked there in the early 70s when it was still at 4th and Bryant – in an old Pac Bell warehouse! That's also when I hung out at SFZC, chased a lot of women in Sierra Singles, lived across the street from "Deputy Dave" Allen's Boarding House*, and was generally a wild and rebellious youth.

*Boarding house tickets were $7 for ALL bands/performances and THAT included a bottle of decent wine!

Why dont Mysterion, Jinzang, Seagal Rinpoche, john e mumbles, Uncle Willie, tattoozen start their own blog/sangha called " Enso Circle jerk Sangha" They clearly need each other and have the common factor that they love to try to dominate , control and strongly influence a situation. They dominate this comments section and clearly keep other people from commenting. This is their comments section. Let's be clear.

Why don't you shut up and let those people do what they want.. Who appointed you the blog nazi? I think you should go and they should stay. As bombastic as mysterion and his alter-egos are he still has every right to comment here. Besides that Mumbles is cool.

Why dont Mysterion, Jinzang, Seagal Rinpoche, john e mumbles, Uncle Willie, tattoozen start their own blog/sangha called " Enso Circle jerk Sangha" They clearly need each other and have the common factor that they love to try to dominate , control and strongly influence a situation. They dominate this comments section and clearly keep other people from commenting. This is their comments section. Let's be clear.

Fred, You can't discount the possibility that it was someone besides Korey who wrote that to an3drew. I'm not defending him but I've seen enough identity theft here to not take anything for granted. For an3drew to call people aggressive wrong minded turds when there might have only been one silly, immature kid messing with him turns him into.. an aggressive wrong minded erm.. person.

"Why dont Mysterion, Jinzang, Seagal Rinpoche, john e mumbles, Uncle Willie, tattoozen start their own blog/sangha called " Enso Circle jerk Sangha" They clearly need each other and have the common factor that they love to try to dominate , control and strongly influence a situation. They dominate this comments section and clearly keep other people from commenting. This is their comments section. Let's be clear."

That Steven Seagal asshole really thinks he's some big Buddhist. It makes me laugh to think that the big, fat actor dude comes here and tries to act all enlightened and such.

If anyone is having trouble getting back to sleep at 3 or 4am, I have written a piece about a practice which might help. Someone in New York City tried it, and after a week wrote this:

"so after a week of your Waking Up and Falling Asleep, I am pleased to say it works for me EVERYTIME without fail. Nights of insomnia, tossing and turning, hopefully are behind me. This has made me much more productive during the wakeful hours.

These are quite significant results Mark, I would urge you to get others to try out your practice and report back."

Another interesting article is The Myth of the Eight-Hour Sleep, the fellow in New York found my article by writing on a forum thread about this article. He reported that he tended to wake up about 3am and have trouble getting back to sleep.

Hopefully this is helpful to some of you, please let me know if you try the practice I describe.

“The lotus is the most beautiful flower, whose petals open one by one. But it will only grow in the mud. In order to grow and gain wisdom, first you must have the mud — the obstacles of life and its suffering. … The mud speaks of the common ground that humans share, no matter what our stations in life. … Whether we have it all or we have nothing, we are all faced with the same obstacles: sadness, loss, illness, dying and death. If we are to strive as human beings to gain more wisdom, more kindness and more compassion, we must have the intention to grow as a lotus and open each petal one by one. ”? Goldie Hawn

“Every man dies – Not every man really lives.”

William Ross Wallace

"Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives."

A. Sachs

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”? Mark Twain

Why doesn't Anonymous start his/her own blog/sangha called "Anonymous Troll Blog/Sangha". He/she clearly craves attention and loves to try to dominate, control and strongly influence every situation. He/she monopolizes this comment section and tries to intimidate people to discourage them from commenting. This is his/her comments section. Let's be as Clear as an Operating Thetan.

Hi Mark, While I have no trouble at all sleeping, I applaud your efforts on behalf of insomniacs everywhere. In your essay, I think I understand what you are getting at, but am not entirely sure what you may really mean. I find the following particularly vague:

"When my awareness shifts readily, I realize that my ability to feel my location in space is made possible in part by the freedom of my awareness to move."

How so? Isn't awareness underlying all phenomena that a conscious being can grasp? How can awareness not be with the location in space no matter where that location may be, as in, 'everywhere I look (ie; am aware that I am aware), I find myself.' By "awareness" do you mean "attention?"

"I sometimes overlook my location in space because I attach to what I’m feeling, or I’m averse to it, or I ignore it. The result is that I lose the freedom of my awareness to shift and move, and I have difficulty relaxing or staying alert.

How does one overlook their location in space? Do you mean that the awareness of where you are is sometimes clouded by emotions, random thoughts, pulled away by attention to the contemplation of experiences, or fear, ie; not being present in the moment for whatever reasons? But again, isn't awareness present even in those moments?

"When I allow what I feel to enter into where I am, then my awareness remains free, and I can relax and keep my wits about me."

Where was "what I feel" before it "entered into where I am"? Didn't it have to be with you (wherever you are) in order to notice its presence? When is awareness not free?

And how exactly does this help you go [back] to sleep/wake up, etc.?

Anyway, I am a very literal person, despite the vague pronouncements I often make. If it amuses you, humor me with a response. It may help others understand what you are trying to convey in your essay. Thanks!